Born in 1840 in Zhengjiang, Ma was a Catholic with a Christian name Joseph. At a young age of 11, Ma attended the Ignacio High School, which was later known as the Xu Hui Public School. In 1862, Ma joined the Christian Association and became a Father in 1869. He became the principal of the Xu Hui Public School in 1872 and was the editor of the Christian Association. Ma resigned from his positions and joined the embassy to Japan in 1881, followed by another mission to Korea (1882). In 1885, Ma was sent as an official to Taiwan. After another embassy trip to Osaka, Japan, in 1892, Ma was responsible for the establishment of the following schools; Shanghai Zhengdan University (1903), Fudan Public School (1905), and Puren University. He was the principal of Fudan Public School and acting principal of Beijing University. Following the 9-18 Incident in 1931, Ma urged the Chinese to cease the civil war and unite against the Japanese invasion. In 1935, per the invitation of the communist party, Ma wrote the 'Declaration of the Shanghai Culture Rescue Movement' with Sheng Junyu and Zuo Taobei. Ma was the executive officer of the United China Rescue Association in 1936 with Song Qingling (Dr. Sun Yetsan's wife) and He Xiangying. He died in 1939 and was buried in the Shanghai Catholic Cemetery.